The disclosure of the application entitled Marketing Displays Providing Ready Replaceability of Adhesive Display Labels filed concurrently herewith is incorporated herein by reference.
This invention relates to merchandise hangers such as so-called xe2x80x9cPegboardxe2x80x9d hooks.
As is well known, many hangers which are used to support and display merchandise include an arm that is adapted to be supported at one end and to project in cantilever fashion for convenient access to allow addition and removal of merchandise items. A common type is the so-called xe2x80x9cscanning pegboard hookxe2x80x9d which has two arms and is adapted to be attached to a perforated panel to effect such support and display of merchandise. A so-called scanner arm usually is spaced above a hanger arm. The hanger arm supports the merchandise. A label support is provided on the outer end of the scanner arm for supporting and prominently displaying a label or xe2x80x9ctagxe2x80x9d that may contain pricing, stockkeeping units and other information and indicia pertaining to the merchandise on the hanger arm. These arms often are elongated pieces of wire or rod which extend horizontally from the rear support end of the hanger. Examples of such hangers and attached display supports are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,912,084, 4,452,360, 4,783,033, 4,850,557, 4,976,058, 5,231,779, 5,236,163 and 5,325,616 which are incorporated herein by reference. Such hangers may be formed of different diameter wire or rods, e.g., relatively small diameter wires for light duty and heavier arms made of larger diameter wire for heavy duty, or arms of other cross-sectional configurations.
In such merchandise displays, it is desirable to permit ready application, removal and exchange of information labels, e.g. as in instances of changing of the products, prices, sale announcements, images which facilitate inventorying, and other pertinent information.
The general aim of the present invention is to provide merchandise hangers such as xe2x80x9cPegboardxe2x80x9d hooks having an improved label holder arrangement that permits easy removal and replacement of adhesive labels on such hangers.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide such hangers and related labels which assure smooth attractive affixation of each adhesive label while also providing simple, quick and economical removal and replacement as well as exchange of the labels as marketing circumstances and product information change.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings.
A hanger assembly is provided for hanging and displaying merchandise at the front face of a perforated panel such as a so-called xe2x80x9cpegboardxe2x80x9d that is disposed in a generally vertical plane. The hanger has at least one elongated arm. An engagement section at the rear end of the hanger includes a plurality of appropriately spaced fingers or hooks which extend rearwardly as xe2x80x9chornsxe2x80x9d for engaging in the holes of such a perforated panel to support the hanger assembly on the panel in a generally horizontal position. The arm or arms thus extend generally horizontally from the panel and typically are generally perpendicular to the plane of the panel. A label support which typically is in the form of a small flat panel or holder is mounted on the front end of one arm of the hanger and presents a surface exposed outwardly relative to the arm.
A release layer, such as a thin coating of a silicone material, is provided on the outer surface of the label panel. This release layer adherently retains and supports an adhesively coated label that is pressed onto that surface and will readily release such a label, i.e. will permit the label to be peeled off cleanly with little effort, normally without tearing or splitting the label or leaving any residue therefrom on the label panel surface. Thereby labels applied to the label panel are exposed outwardly relative to the arm for viewing by customers who pass by the display. The labels also are readily removable and replaceable, as well as exchangeable, by merchandising personnel as the facts and circumstances to be displayed change from time to time.
In the preferred embodiments, the release layer is affixed to the label support. One such embodiment utilizes a thin flexible liner or carrier member. This member includes a carrier body layer such as of paper or a synthetic base stock and is adhered to the support surface of the label support panel in a relatively permanent manner. The release layer is provided on the opposite side of the carrier body and thereby is exposed outwardly. In another preferred embodiment, the release layer is applied as a coating directly onto the label support panel. In each instance, adhesively backed labels are readily attached smoothly on the release layer and are readily and easily removable and replaceable manually by store personnel.
In another embodiment the label support at the outer end of the hanger may be provided with flanges, tabs or other lips or the like which serve as engagement elements to engage and retain a thin label carrier member. That carrier member includes a carrier body of a size, configuration and stiffness to engage within the engagement elements for retention thereby. A release layer is provided on the surface of the label carrier member which is disposed outwardly to releasably support adhesive labels thereon in the same manner as noted above.